Editing Paul Martin (section)

==Finance Minister (1993–2002)==
After the Liberals formed the government, Martin was chosen as minister of finance by Prime Minister Chrétien. At the time, Canada had one of the highest budgetary deficits of the [[G7]] countries. Standard & Poor's had lowered its rating on Canada's foreign-denominated government debt from AAA to AA-plus in 1992, and in 1994, Moody's lowered its rating on Canada's foreign currency debt from Aaa to Aa1, partly due to Canada's growing public debt.<ref name=factbox1>{{cite news|last=Martell|first=Allison|title=Factbox: How Canada tamed its budget deficit|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crisis-canada-tame/factbox-how-canada-tamed-its-budget-deficit-idUSTRE77766I20110808|work=Reuters|publisher=Thomson Reuters|access-date=February 17, 2021|author2=Guttsman, Janet|date=August 8, 2011}}</ref> In his debut as finance minister, Martin made huge budget cuts that almost ground economic growth to a halt, scaling down government to 1951 levels. In 1994–96, when these cuts were made, economic growth decreased by 3.5 percentage points, according to a study by CIBC-Wood Gundy. The resulting loss in tax revenue almost eliminated the savings made by the cuts and turned the economy away from the public sector toward the private sector. The cuts endangered the provinces' abilities to pay for social programs, health care, and public infrastructure. In response, the [[Bank of Canada]] lowered interest rates to avoid contributing to a growing recession, causing a huge spurt of economic growth and resulting increase in government revenue.<ref name=rabble1>{{cite news|url=http://rabble.ca/news/paul-martin-he-has-record |title=Paul Martin: He has a record|publisher=rabble.ca |access-date=August 6, 2011}}</ref> In 1998, Martin introduced a balanced budget, an event that had occurred only twice in 36 years before 1997.<ref name=CBC1>{{cite news|last=CBC News Online|title=Ottawa's cup runneth over Federal budget surpluses&nbsp;– FAQs|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news2/background/budget/|work=CBC News|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=April 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2002, Moody's and Standard and Poor's restored Canada's domestic and foreign currency debt ratings to AAA.<ref name=factbox1 />

During his tenure as finance minister, Martin was responsible for lowering Canada's [[debt-to-GDP ratio]] from a peak of 70 percent to about 50 percent in the mid-1990s. In December 2001, he was named a member of the [[World Economic Forum]]'s "dream cabinet."<ref name="deficit buster">{{cite video|people=Keith Boag (reporter)|date=November 29, 1993|title=Paul Martin, deficit buster|url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/paul-martin-deficit-buster |format=.wmv |medium=news report |access-date=June 5, 2015|publisher=CBC Archives}}</ref> The global business and financial body listed Martin along with United States Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]] and United Nations Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]] as top world leaders.

Also during his tenure as finance minister, Martin coordinated a series of meetings between the finance ministers of all provinces to discuss the pending crisis in the [[Canada Pension Plan]] (CPP). Consequently, Martin oversaw the creation of a general public consultation process in February 1996 that eventually led to major structural reform of the CPP. The results of this public consultation process were collected and analyzed by the Finance department. Eventually, it led to a proposal for overhauling the CPP, which was presented to Parliament and was approved soon after, averting a pension crisis.<ref name="deficit buster" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncwcnbes.net/htmdocument/principales/cppaugust98_e.htm |title=An Open Letter About The Canada Pension Plan |access-date=November 29, 2006 |last=Murphy |first=John |publisher=National Council of Welfare |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060810155141/http://www.ncwcnbes.net/htmdocument/principales/cppaugust98_e.htm |archive-date=August 10, 2006 }}</ref>

While Martin's record as finance minister was lauded in business and financial circles, there were undeniable costs. Some of these took the form of reduced government services, affecting the operations and achievement of the mandate of federal and provincial departments. This was probably most noticeable in [[Medicare (Canada)|health care]], as major reductions in federal funding to the provinces meant significant cuts in service delivery. Martin's tactics, including those of using contributor's funds from RCMP, Military and Civil Service pension plans and [[Employment Insurance]], created further controversy. CAW economist Jim Stanford said that a combination of a spending freeze at 1994 levels and lower interest rates would have eliminated the deficit in two years through economic growth alone, without the reduction in services.<ref name=rabble1/>

===Relations with Chrétien===

Chrétien and Martin frequently clashed while in office. It was reported that Chrétien privately often condemned Martin in bitter terms and had never forgiven Martin for running against him in the Liberal leadership convention of 1990. During that bitter contest, Martin had forced Chrétien to declare his opposition to the Meech Lake Accord and, as a result, Chrétien was generally unpopular in his home province for the next decade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://policyoptions.irpp.org/fr/magazines/paul-martin/juggernaut-paul-martins-campaign-for-chretiens-crown-paul-martin-the-power-of-ambition-book-reviews/|title=Juggernaut: Paul Martin's Campaign for Chrétien's Crown / Paul Martin: The Power of Ambition (comptes rendus)|website=Policy Options|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref>

Even before the Liberals' second electoral victory in the [[1997 Canadian federal election|1997 election]], there was much speculation in the media and in Ottawa that Martin was after Chrétien's job and wanted to force him to retire. As the Liberals emerged with a smaller majority government after the 1997 election, it seemed unlikely that any opposition party could pose a serious challenge, but Martin began to gain support from those who began to disagree with Chrétien. Chrétien, however, resolved to stay on after the Liberals were reelected in 2000, having regained much of the ground lost in 1997. By this time, Martin had gained control of much of the party machinery.